Crack Van drivers...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

My second turn to drive the crack_van for Professionals recs has just come up (it's nearly February already?), and I couldn't help but notice that we're running out of volunteers again - there's just one person on the list after me, and she's another repeat offender... *g*

Pros was dropped as a Monthly Featured Fandom for several years because there weren't enough people playing - it was put back on the list after a burst of enthusiasm via one of the other Pros comms, but that seems to have died away now. I don't know about anybody else, but I like seeing a Pros rec pop up in my flist each week or so - I might not always agree about the story, but it's nice to be reminded, and I've been reminded to re-read some real gems, too!

The site is a little daunting to wander into at first (well, it was to me!) - it's hugely multi-fandom - but what it comes down to is popping over to this page and adding your name to the sign-up list by commenting. The post explains what you need to do, and then you just wait to be assigned a month for reccing Pros! (You can usually work out roughly when that will be, by how many people are above you on the list, though they very occasionally seem to skip months for some reason). There are lots of stories that have been recced already - 165+ *g* - because it's been going since 2003, but that's all the more reason to keep Pros up there, right? It's not as if there's no one writing any more... *g* You can see what's been previously recced either at the Memorable Pages entry at crack_van itself, or via the alphabetical list at Palelyloitering.com (slightly out of date whilst I'm getting Kompozer up and running so that I can work on the site again!), and there's also a Delicious list for people who play there (it doesn't seem to have been updated since last April though).

It's actually quite good fun, and I'm looking forward to February 1st, even with everything else going on in my life just now! Recs can be as complex or simple as you like - you fill in their header for people to find the fic, and the "Why this must be read|" part can be no more than "...because it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy inside" or "...because it's a classic example of a Pros adventure", or... well, anything short and sweet if that's what you prefer! So... go on, have a go!

Here's the sign-up sheet again!

(And if you've not yet been, I'd absolutely recommend a visit, and wandering the Pros recs especially. It's fascinating to see what was recced way back when, who was doing the reccing, and who was active in Pros fandom, when... *g*)

ETA - it's also useful to know that you can join/watch crack_van but filter the posts that appear in your flist to only those that are tagged for Pros - and tags are compulsory there, so they should all come up! I joined and then de-joined sharpish when I saw that every rec appeared in my flist, years ago, but lj's new tag-filtering system is perfect for Crack_van! *g*

ETA2 - More info about how to rec etc can be found here... at the crack_van User Info Page. There's more specific information via links on the comm's sidebar, including Posting Guidelines for the comm which includes Crack Van Collisions (crossover recs) and Friday Night Drive-in (vid recs) guidelines. Go and look!